It is known to provide lid for covering the opening of a container, such as a garbage can or dustbin. In a normal storage position, the container stands upright, and the lid naturally falls down by force of gravity, thus covering the top opening. However, for lids not of significant weight, an animal may be able to lift a lid and reach for contents stored in the container. Increasing the weight would be wasteful and not effective against tampering by all animals. Additionally, when the container tips over or is knocked down, a lid may also become open due to gravity. In strong wind, lids made of lightweight materials such as plastic also may be blown open.
It is desirable to provide locks or latches for such covered containers to prevent animal tampering and to prevent accidental opening due to strong wind or tipping over of the container. There have been proposals for providing a lock or safety latch for such covered containers. For example, EP2,148,828B1, “Dustbin Lock”, discloses a dustbin lock for releaseably securing a lid to a dustbin. In the locking position, the lid is prevented from being lifted to uncover the opening. However, the proposed dustbin lock does not permit a one-hand operation to release the lock and to lift the lid at the same time, which might be viewed as inconvenient for some users. There also have been proposals of combining a handle with a slider. However, a user will need to lift the handle and also push the slider against a biasing force, required for the lock, in order to release the lock and to lift the lid, which could pose a challenge to some users.
There is therefore a need for an improved lock assembly or safety lock for dustbins and covered containers as compared to the existing art. It is an object of the present invention to mitigate or obviate at least one of the above mentioned disadvantages.